Microsoft, Apple And Others Form A New Advocacy Group To Support Need For Patents

Microsoft along with other industry-leading companies announced a new partnership for American innovation. Apple, DuPont, Ford, GE, IBM, Microsoft and Pfizer is partnering with Former U.S. Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) Director David Kappos to highlight the value of intellectual property and patents to U.S. jobs and the economy. Read the full press release below.

NEW YORK, April 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — A diverse group of industry-leading companies — Apple, DuPont, Ford, GE, IBM, Microsoft and Pfizer — which have staked their businesses on innovation, have launched the Partnership for American Innovation (PAI) to safeguard America’s position as a global innovation leader. Former U.S. Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) Director David Kappos, now a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, is a senior advisor to the group.

PAI members represent a diverse cross section of the economy; they have different business models, use their patent portfolios in very different ways, and are frequently competitors. Together, these companies invest more than $40 billion every year in research and development and depend on the patent system to safeguard those investments. PAI-supported R&D supports over 1.2 million jobs and has created iconic products and services that consumers depend on — everything from the light bulb to the iPhone.

To date, the conversation around patents has been dominated by those seeking to curtail America’s strong system for narrow, short-term gains. Companies like those in the PAI support a strong, balanced system and are working together to make sure the conversation is driven by facts, not rhetoric, and reason rather than emotion.

“As director of the USPTO, I saw firsthand the significant role the patent system plays in encouraging inventors, promoting investment in innovation, and creating jobs,” Kappos said. “Now is not the time to gamble with America’s innovation engine — once patent protections are eliminated, they cannot be restored.”

IP-intensive industries generate $5 trillion in economic activity and create 40 million jobs. These jobs rely on a strong patent system to incentivize and protect the investments made by intellectual property (IP)-intensive companies.

The members of the PAI are committed to the following principles:

“It is in our country’s best interest to have a patent system that rises above short-term interests, and creates long-term gains for all sectors of the economy. We must move beyond rhetoric that ‘the system is broken and trolls are bringing businesses to a complete halt’ to a discussion of calibrated improvements for what is actually the best patent system our planet has,” Kappos said.

The Partnership for American Innovation believes protecting intellectual property is essential to America’s ability to compete in markets around the world, America’s economic growth and American jobs. Innovative companies in the U.S. must be able to protect their investments in cutting-edge research and development to maintain America’s economic leadership. The members of the PAI recognize that innovative companies across all fields of technology have a critical role to play in promoting a positive climate for technology innovation.

David Kappos, a former director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, is a partner with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and a senior advisor for the Partnership for American Innovation.